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The G8x series of BMW M cars are more capable than ever, but with a few simple upgrades they can be massively improved. Explore 3 simple chassis upgrades that will transform how your G80/G82/G87 drives.
As the G8x M cars have become more powerful and heavier, having a good sense of connection to the chassis is more important than ever to drive these cars with confidence and speed. These 3 upgrades give you a greater sense of connection to the front and rear axles whilst also tightening up the entire driving experience.
We developed these 3 upgrades following customer feedback about how the G8x M cars handle when stock mainly in regards to the vague and understeer prone handling.
The 3 upgrades are:
- Solid Front Caster Bushes
- Adjustable Rear Toe Arms
- Full Geometry Alignment
We’ll explore the details and benefits of each of these upgrades below:
Solid Front Caster Bushes
The first upgrade from transforming the handling of your G8x is Solid Front Caster Bushes. A common complaint we have from G8x M car owners is about the lack of feel and feedback from the steering.
This is amplified by BMW setting the front toe angle to zero: where both tyres point directly ahead, perfectly parallel with the longitudinal centre axis of the car. Zero toe is chosen to maximise fuel efficiency and minimise tyre wear, but zero toe leads to tramlining, where the car follows uneven cambers and ruts in the road which requires constant steering corrections to drive straight.
A further effect of zero toe leaves the steering rack unloaded, which makes the steering feel light and lifeless, which is not ideal in a high-performance car.
To solve these shortcomings, we created the Suspension Secrets BMW G8x Solid Caster Bushes to transform the front axle of your BMW.
Our solid bushes replace the soft, flexible OEM front control arm bushes with a pair of precision-machined billet aluminium casings that house motorsport-grade Rodobal bearings. These bearings offer precise control and reliability even under the most demanding conditions. The result is improved steering accuracy at the limit as the control arm bushes no longer flex during hard cornering, meaning your BMW feels reactive and connected to the road at all times. The solid construction of our bushes also eliminates the G8x M cars’ tendency to wander left-to-right during heavy braking. Our bushes ensure your BMW will brake straight and true with maximum stability.
But wait, there’s more
If these two benefits weren’t enough, we’ve also designed our Suspension Secrets BMW G8x Solid Caster Bushes to increase the caster angle at the front axle. Increasing the positive caster has a number of benefits including:
- Improved steering weight and feel
- Increased high-speed stability
- Greater cornering grip due to dynamic camber gain
The end result is a front axle that is transformed, with communicative, accurate, weighty steering that enables you to really drive your M2/M3/M4 with confidence on both road and track.
Our bushes are also designed and manufactured to produce no draw backs for daily road use. Therefore, there is no noise increase through the chassis and no NVH increase making them the perfect upgrade for any G8X owner from pure road use all the way through to dedicated track use.
“Increases steering wheel weight and feel as well as added steering sharpness. Highly recommend if you like a heavier feeling wheel.”
Jaz. P – Suspension Secrets Customer
Rear Toe Arms
On the previous generation F8x series M cars, optimising the performance of the rear axle was very important to good cornering performance. If the rear geometry was set incorrectly this could make for a difficult driving experience.
BMW has addressed this somewhat by introducing xDrive as an option for the latest M3 and M4, but for the early RWD G80 M3s and G82 M4s and the G87 M2, the same issues persist.
Why is the rear toe angle so important to address?
The rear toe angle effectively controls how much stability and traction you have at the rear axle. Ideally you want to run toe-in at the rear axle to help the rear remain stable and to give the rear tyres a good chance of finding the necessary grip to put your power down.
There are two issues with the OEM toe arms on the G8x M Cars and they are:
The OEM BMW toe arms are fitted with two flexible rubber bushes which cause the rear toe angle to change mid-corner, causing instability
AND
The limited range of adjustment offered by the rear toe bolts means compromising between optimum rear camber and optimum rear toe settings.
Fortunately, both of these issues can be solved by installing the Suspension Secrets Adjustable Rear Toe Arms.
The on-body toe adjusters on our Suspension Secrets Adjustable Rear Toe Arms give a wider range of toe angle adjustment versus the OEM toe adjuster bolts. This allows you to increase the rear camber to a more aggressive position whilst simultaneously achieving the optimum rear toe setting – something this is near impossible using the OEM toe and camber adjustment bolts.
The standard toe arms can also lead to instability at the rear axle at high speeds do to the rubber bushes flexing in the joints. This is why the BMW M4 CSL has solid-bushed rear toe arms from the factory as this was identified as a weak point during high speed cornering. With our Suspension Secrets Adjustable Rear Toe Arms fitted, you’ll feel more connected to the rear axle and will experience greatly improved cornering stability, more outright grip and improved traction due to our arms being rose jointed so no flex can occur through the corner, keeping grip levels stable and consistent allowing you to push even harder.
Similar to our solid front control arm bushes, our toe arms are the perfect upgrade for road use as they do not generate any increase in noise or harshness, making them an ideal OEM+ upgrade to match the rear end stability of the M4 CSL.
The best bit? Even xDrive equipped M3 and M4 drivers can enjoy the improved cornering grip and stability from our Suspension Secrets Adjustable Rear Toe Arms.
“A must for any G series owners who want a more planted and predictable rear end on their car.
Jaz. P – Suspension Secrets Customer
Giving more grip and high speed stability.”
Full Geometry Alignment
Suspension upgrades are definitely worth exploring but not without also investing in a good four-wheel alignment.
The benefits of a good geometry alignment are:
- More responsive steering
- Improved stability when cruising
- Improved cornering grip
- Increased traction
- More even tyre wear even during high-speed driving
A good alignment will improve the feel and feedback received through the chassis whilst also making your BMW more predictable and capable in the corners. A good geometry alignment alone can make a massive difference on the G8x M cars, especially as the factory alignment settings are not very well optimised for high-performance driving.
Another important aspect of getting a geometry alignment done is in order to ensure any upgrades you have installed are being put to use most effectively.
Final Thoughts
With these 3 upgrades, your BMW G8x M car will be sharper, more communicative and more capable than both the M3 CS and M4 CS, whilst still being usable on the road, for a fraction of the price.
Explore our range of G8x M car upgrades at the Suspension Secrets Shop clicking the image below:
